Farewell to Starry Skies
by Wolf in the Walls
Summary: Running relentlessly through the every darkening wood...running running running. Lu Xun is escaping, but not from what one would think. Not meant to be LMLX...but could be interpreted as such.
1. Chapter 1

A very random fic...but only the first chapter.**  
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(I own nothing)**  
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**Farewell to Starry Skies**

Running, running, running.

He didn't know how long he had been following the river. He didn't know how long he had been running through bushes and mud and whatever else was in his path. Twice he had cut himself. Once he nearly tumbled down the embankment and into the river, thus nearly sending him to his death---for he was not a swimmer. He began to tire, but the sound of men and horses behind him were signals that he was not allowed to stop. He had to outrun them.

"Come back!" Lu Meng's voice beckoned.

No. He wasn't going back there.

An arrow flew dangerously close to his face. Crap. Now they were determined to take him back. One grazed his arm. Blood flew, but he ran on. More arrows, more near misses. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was hit. He moved closer to the river, hoping that it would throw them off. Thunder rumbled low overhead, and the sky darkened considerably. The arrows continued to come.

Then it happened. One shot sank itself into his right calf. The pain in his step caused him to stumble, slipping in the mud and sending him down the embankment into the river. The water dragged him under, tossing him around like he was a rag doll. He struggled to keep his head above water, but wasn't about to flail around like a beached trout. He caught glimpses of his pursuers, their horses running parallel to him. His mentor was there, leading the pack, followed by his friends and the man he once called his lord.

But soon he knew it would be over…all over.

For when the lightning flashed, he saw the water vanish over the wall. The water dragons pulled him under once again, and sent him over the edge.

"Lu Xun!"

Lu Meng's horse halted at the cliff face. He dismounted and watched in horror as Lu Xun's body was sent down the waterfall. There was nothing that could be done.

"There's no way he'll survive that!" Gan Ning said when they lost sight of him in the storm.

"Find a way down there!" Lu Meng ordered. Gan Ning and Ling Tong turned their horses and ran off, vanishing into the gloom.

Rain began to fall.

"Why did he leave?" Lu Meng asked the storm. Thunder answered, leaving the mind to wonder.

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_Am I dead?_

Lu Xun slowly opened his eyes. He felt sore, but definitely alive. He slowly tried to sit up, waiting for his vision to clear. His clothes were still soaked, and his hat was definitely K.I.A. The river was just at his feet, and the bloody arrow that had once been lodged in his leg was laying innocently on the bank nearby. He rubbed his eyes and flopped back onto his back, exhausted from that little of activity. He looked up at the cloudy sky, trying to guess what time it was, but to no avail. After ten minutes or so, he sat up again. He tried to stand, but his injured leg gave out and he crumpled to the ground with his back to the river.

Before him, grazing peacefully, was the largest and blackest mare he had ever seen. She lifted her head, which had a dirty, torn halter. She looked at him for a moment before slowly walking over. Lu Xun began to tremble. He was not a horse person, and tended to avoid them whenever he could. This mare lowered her head, her wild and unkempt mane falling over her neck. With timid hands, Lu Xun grabbed hold of the wiry black threads. She lifted her head, and Lu Xun made an effort to stand.

With some difficulty, he made it to his feet, holding onto this strange mare for support. With a weary hand, he removed the halter, and she tossed her head like a huge weight had been lifted. They began to walk, slowly...

Together.

8#8&

"Anything?" Lu Meng asked. Gan Ning shook his head.

"I found this." Ling Tong held up a bloody arrow. Lu Meng studied it carefully.

"Look, what do these look like?" He asked.

"Teeth marks?" Gan Ning ventured. Ling Tong and Lu Meng nodded.

"Horse teeth." Ling Tong added.

"But Lu Xun's horse is still here. He didn't touch Storm Runner."

They stood in silence for a moment, thinking.

"What happened to Sun Ce's horse?" Lu Meng asked.

"Shadow Hex? The Untamed One? She was given to his daughter..." Gan Ning replied.

"But she was killed almost a month ago, a day before her eighteenth birthday..." Ling Tong added.

"What happened to S-Hex?"

"She vanished...or so said Lord Sun Quan."

More silence as they thought.

"Ce's daughter...she and Lu Xun were good friends, right?" Gan Ning asked.

"Yeah, like they knew each other since childhood."

There was more silence, given out of respect for the dead. But they wondered about the missing black mare, Shadow Hex.

"Anyone know what happened last night?" Lu Meng asked.

"All I saw was Lu Xun rush from the strategy room as fast as he could...and I remember Lord Sun Quan being smashed." Gan Ning said.

"Why not check the room in question? I don't think anyone dares to go near it but you and Lu Xun." Ling Tong added. The two nodded.

The room was a disaster area. The main table, with a map of Fan Castle, was tipped over. Scrolls were scattered all over the place. The two chairs in the room had been tipped. The maps on the wall seemed like they had just crumpled to the floor.

"What the hell?"

Lu Meng cautiously entered the room, but Ling Tong spotted the clues.

"Lu Meng, what would you suppose these are doing in the room?" He asked, holding up a fine white silk scarf and a length of rope.

It wasn't long before the three spread out, on horseback and moving as fast as their mounts would carry them.

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Chapter end! Ideas, questions, comments, all are welcome. Flames will be used for torture. (grin)


	2. Red Hare's Daughter

**Farewell to Starry Skies**

The Red Hare's Daughter

_Now I will tell you what I've done for you_

_50 thousand tears I've cried_

_Screaming deceiving and bleeding for you_

_And you still won't hear me_

_Don't want your hand this time I'll save myself_

_Maybe I'll wake up for once_

_Not tormented daily defeated by you_

_Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom_

_I'm dying again_

The three officers found nothing. They returned to Wu, meeting in the stables after their search.

"Now what?" Gan Ning asked as they walked slowly into the light of morning.

"We could look at Shadow Hex's pedigree. Maybe there is something there." Ling Tong suggested.

"To tell us what?" Gan Ning shot back.

"Where that horse would go. How it would act. Maybe it would rescue a person." Ling Tong said darkly.

"Then go check it out. I need some rest." Lu Meng said, yawning.

Ling Tong shuffled to the archives. After hours and hours of looking at scrolls and nearly dropping tomes on his head, he found something of what he was looking for. His eyes traced over symbols that were ever clear and written with great detail. With this, he found what he was looking for. With an excited cry, he rushed off to find Lu Meng.

Lu Xun knew he was alive now. He bit his lower lip so hard that it was bleeding as he held his left arm tightly. He slowly looked up at the ledge he had fallen from. The black mare was looking around frantically for a way down. Finding one, she skidded down the rock and was next to him in and instant. Lu Xun cursed himself for doing something so stupid. How could he have not seen that? The black mare nudged him and seemed to get down on her knees, as if telling him to get on her back. Slowly, he did.

She took of almost instantly, at a brisk trot. Lu Xun's mind began to cloud with pain. He didn't recognize anything around him, and soon passed out on horseback. The black mare slowed to a walk, to keep her passenger. After almost a few hours, the two came upon a camp. The black mare looked around for her quarry. Finding it, she whinnied loudly, almost dragging soldiers from their tents. A similar, high-pitched sound answered her as two warriors, one mounted and the other running to keep up, come closer.

The two horses touched noses, red and black meeting. The mounted warrior reached for Lu Xun, but the black mare snapped at him. The other, younger and carrying a Blue Wyvern Blade, set down his weapon and caught Lu Xun as he finally fell.

"Father, he is ill." The young officer said.

"His arm appears in bad shape. His clothes say he is from Wu, but we shall treat him with the highest respect." The elder officer replied.

"Won't they send a search party?"

"If they did, they will find him here. But he is our guest. Get him medical attention and stay with him. I am curious as to why he is here and not in his own kingdom."

The younger officer nodded and carried the unconscious Lu Xun off, with the black mare following. The elder officer looked at his own mount, who was watching the black mare.

"Something the matter Red Hare?"

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"WHAT!" Gan Ning's voice cried.

"Run this by me again." Lu Meng said.

"Red Hare is Shadow Hex's dam." Ling Tong said, pointing to the scroll that says so.

"I though that Red Hare was male." Lu Meng remarked.

"Female. So this means..."

"I don't know...Maybe we should go look again..." Gan Ning suggested.

"I'll go...but where do we look?" Ling Tong asked.

"Run parallel to the river."

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Lu Xun slowly opened his eyes. He ached, and his head throbbed with the signs of fever. He sat up, only to have a strong arm push him back. The confused boy wearily glanced over at the figures next to him. One he instantly recognized as Guan Yu, but the other he did not recognize. Guan Yu nodded at this other person before leaving. Lu Xun slowly glanced around him, finding himself in a tent and lying on a cot. There was a splint on his broken arm, which was bandaged tightly.

"Are you feeling alright?" The strange person asked.

"Who are you?" Lu Xun asked, voice barely above a whisper. The stranger smiled proudly.

"I am Guan Ping, first son of Guan Yu. May I ask who you are? And why you were wandering around atop that pitch-black mount?"

"My name...is Lu Xun...where is she?" Lu Xun asked, referring to the horse.

Guan Ping reached over Lu Xun's head and unhooked a pin. Part of the tent wall fell to create a window, and the familiar black head of the mare poked into the tent. Her velvety nose nuzzled Lu Xun and seemed to check him over for injuries as if she was a babysitter. Guan Ping chuckled to himself.

"Lu Xun, what were you doing out this far? Alone?" Guan Ping asked.

Lu Xun looked away. This was a question he didn't want to answer. Guan Ping, sensing this, backed off.

"Save it for later. You need to rest."

But Lu Xun's dreams were of such nightmares that he could not rest. When he woke, he was no longer on the cot, he was next to it. Guan Ping arrived a moment later and with unforeseen ease, returned the frail boy to the bed.

"Guan Ping...promise to tell no one..."

(Flashback story mode time!)

_Fan Castle! Was that where they would strike next? Lu Xun thought this over and over as he slipped away from the drinking party and towards his room. His body tingled with the excitement of a new battle on the horizon, a battle where he would play a leading role._

_Before retiring to his room Lu Xun stopped into the strategists' room. He selected a map of the area around Fan Castle and spread it out on the table. His eyes and mind played out different scenarios over and over again, and he was so engrossed in it that he couldn't hear the commotion of his drunken comrades. In fact, he was so focused that he had tuned out everything, footsteps, crickets, a lyre, all of it. _

_And how he would damn himself for it later. _

_Lu Xun didn't hear the footsteps behind him, nor did his mind register the shadow on the wall before him. _

_A white, silk cloth was suddenly tied over his mouth and nose. Lu Xun tried to retaliate, but strong hands bound his arms. Those same hands slammed him against the table, and Lu Xun instantly recognized the shadow on the wall. He felt drunken hands try to fumble with his belt, and Lu Xun panicked. His hands wrenched themselves free of a poorly done knot and he forced his attacker back into a chair or two. He ripped the silken gag from his face and sprinted to the door, pausing to make sire that his attacker was not going to be chasing him soon. _

_It was then that he actually realized who his near-rapist was..._

Guan Ping's mouth hung open in shock. Lu Xun curled up, not wanting to remember more. Tears squeezed from his closed eyes. Without another thought, Guan Ping opened the tent-window and the black mare was there again. She knew that something had happened. Guan Ping looked back at the boy before leaving the room. He couldn't keep quiet about this. He had to tell someone. But as he rushed off to find his father, one thought pulsed through his mind.

_How could your own lord even think about doing such a thing? _

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Chapter end! Yes...I know it's evil...but you haven't seen the later chapters.


	3. The Battle of Fan Castle

**Farewell to Starry Skies**

The Battle of Fan Castle

Lu Xun stepped out of the tent and into the rain, a poor set of twin sabers in his hands. They weren't much, but they were better than nothing. His arm was still not great, nowhere near fine, but useable. If he didn't use his arm then it wouldn't get better, or so he told himself over and over again. The black mare trotted over to him, soaking wet but happy and content. Lu Xun swung onto her back and they trotted around until they found Guan Ping.

"Good morning." Guan Ping said, twirling his great blade.

"Are your ready?" Lu Xun asked, looking over at Fan Castle in the distance. Guan Ping laughed.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Just don't try to get lost in the confusion."

The two laughed, knowing that the other was a fine warrior in their own right. Lu Xun dismounted and assumed a defensive stance. Guan Ping lined himself up as well in a similar stance. Invisible opponents appeared before their eyes, different shadowy images of unseen enemies engaging in a whirling dance of soul and swords. The black mare watched them. The rain poured down upon then, but their bodies seemed to glow with warmth and energy and passion. It soon happened, one step too close and their weapons touched, pulling themselves out of their fantasy battle and into the real one.

"Who were you fighting?" Lu Xun asked for the sake of conversation.

"Cao Cao. And you?"

Lu Xun looked away, almost ashamed. Guan Ping smiled and patted his friend's shoulder in understanding. The black mare nickered slightly as Guan Yu rode up, but not on Red Hare. The three looked at him, confused. He pulled Guan Ping aside for a moment, and Lu Xun took another defensive stance. The shadowy image of Sun Quan appeared before him, sneering, jeering. Everything else was tuned out as Lu Xun jumped at this unseen opponent, only to be "woken" by Guan Yu's blade. He froze for a moment, and then remembered that this was not an actual battle. He relaxed. Guan Yu left, and Guan Ping was only flashing the biggest smile ever known to man.

"Something good happen?" Lu Xun inquired. Guan Ping beamed.

"Father gave me Red Hare."

Lu Xun's mouth fell open in shock. The black mare nudged him once more and he snapped back to attention. He sighed and smiled, following his friend to the stables with the rain pouring over their heads.

Lu Meng sighed and crossed his arms looking at the rain from atop his mount. Ling Tong and Gan Ning appeared next to him, weapons at the ready. Lu Meng turned his attention to the battleground before him, at the now flooded Fan Castle with Cao Ren standing guard. He turned to his two friends, but the missing Lu Xun was like a new form of emptiness that he had not yet experienced. There were warnings shouted from soldiers and Lu Meng nodded. Gan Ning and Ling Tong split off in opposite directions with their orders.

"Lu Xun, some part of me knows that you're around...where in all the hell are you?" He asked.

No one answered him.

8

Red and black blurs rushed at the oncoming soldiers. Lu Xun seemed to have tossed away his former kingdom, now riding under the green banner of Shu. This was not entirely true. He had given up his lord, but not his kingdom. He and Guan Ping rode alongside one another, determined not to part. This was easier said than done, especially when the two dismounted to fight on the muddy ground. Their mounts stood nearby, rearing up and kicking opposing soldiers. Guan Ping and Lu Xun were now so strangely casual that they were laughing and joking with one another while they were fighting.

"Guan Ping!"

Guan Ping turned just in time to see Lu Xun get between him and Gan Ning, blocking the attack. Lu Xun winced, the pain in his arm exploding. Gan Ning instantly halted his attack, his horse nearly jumping. He dismounted, placing his hands on Lu Xun's shoulders as if he needed to know it was really him. Then he forcibly pulled Lu Xun into a hug, babbling about how happy he was to have found him. Lu Xun pushed away.

"I'm not going back. Go away and say you never found me." Lu Xun said, starting off towards Guan Ping.

Gan Ning would not take this. He grabbed Lu Xun around the chest and mounted his horse once again. Lu Xun struggled.

"Let me go damnit!" Lu Xun shouted.

"No! Too much has been sacrificed here to leave without you." Gan Ning said firmly, spurring his horse.

"Guan Ping!" Lu Xun shouted.

But no matter how he cried, Guan Ping had no chance of rescuing him.

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Chapter end! More to come!


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